Cotton Industry's Good Neighbour Policy Cold Comfort

Friday, 18 December 1998 10:00

The industry's move toward self-regulation is extremely concerning, particularly in light of the fact that there is no external auditing process being proposed, said Jo Immig, Chemicals Campaigner with Total Environment Centre.

"The release of the cotton industry's 'good neighbour' Best Management Practices policy is cold comfort to those farmers whose properties and produce are already contaminated. Cattle farmers must be worried sick about another 'beef crisis' since the disclosure that there are 1,400 contaminated farms on an 'e-list' released by the National Residue Survey".

"TEC have requested a copy of the 'good neighbour' policy on at least three occasions, but has been refused access. What have they got to hide? We understand there is no external auditing process attached to it, which means it doesn't amount to much in terms of knowing what farmers are really doing on the ground. The most cynical view is that it's an elaborate PR exercise,".

"The rejected cattle may just be the tip of the iceberg. TEC has received several notifications from cattle farmers in the Namoi valley indicating their cattle have turned up with endosulfan residues. These farmers don't know what to do because they can't stop pesticides trespassing from their cotton neighbours. Inadequate state regulations offer them no protection either. They also report that at sale yards, if it's known your cattle come from areas near cotton you can't get top dollar," Ms Immig said.

"Endosulfan residues are being found in rivers and on pastures in areas close to cotton, it really was only a matter of time before cattle turned up with contamination making them unfit for export or sale to domestic markets, said Pip Stenekes of the NSW Nature Conservation Council.

"While the commitment shown by a few cotton growers to raising environmental standards is positive, our research has revealed that only one or two farms are accredited to ISO 14000. This shows there is still a vast potential to achieve higher environmental standards," Ms Stenekes said.

"The cotton industry as a whole still has a long way to go in terms of becoming more ecologically sustainable. The industry is responsible for serious environmental contamination and degradation of riverine environment and spray drift incidents involving humans. The government must ensure regulations adequately protect the environment and other industries from the impacts of cotton farming".